


i saw daddy kissing santa claus

by WellyFullOfAle



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Robron AU, aaron as santa, christmas cheesy fluff, single dad robert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 23:59:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13088169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WellyFullOfAle/pseuds/WellyFullOfAle
Summary: Single Dad Robert takes his daughter to Santa’s grotto, and he finds his own Christmas wishes coming true when he lays eyes on the man behind the Santa suit.





	i saw daddy kissing santa claus

**Author's Note:**

> Shamelessly cheesy Christmas fluff :D
> 
> My submission for the Robron Advent Calendar. Merry Christmas!

 

**_Sunday 18 th December_ **

Robert took his daughter’s hand as he walked through the town centre, struggling to shrug her tiny rucksack over his left arm as he realised the strap of the purple, unicorn-emblazoned bag was most definitely designed for a five year old child and not for an almost-thirty year old man as himself.

“Shouldn’t I be making you carry this seeing as you begged me to buy it for you?” he smiled as he glanced down at her, walking her through the busy streets and deftly manoeuvring her out of the way of various oncoming obstacles that she clearly hadn’t noticed in the haze of her excitement.

“But Daddy, princesses don’t carry bags,” she sassed back at him without hesitation and with that sense of entitlement that she’d clearly inherited from him.

“Convenient, that is,” he smiled back at her as he rolled his eyes affectionately.

She gave him one of her winning smiles in return – the kind that let him know that she was all too well aware of the way she had her father wrapped around her little finger – and Robert couldn’t help but feel his heart overflowing with fondness for his daughter.

It had been a difficult few years, since her mother’s sister had turned up unannounced on Robert’s doorstep with a toddler he’d known nothing about – a one night stand from years before at an office Christmas party, and a tragic accident for the woman whose name he could hardly remember – and his life had turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Overnight, he’d found himself the head of a single parent family, with not a clue how to even look after himself let alone a child who’d just lost their mother.

His sister Vic had been all hands on deck – his literal saviour amongst it all – but he’d battled his own demons for the few years that he’d struggled to adapt to his new lifestyle. In the blink of an eye, gone was his heady bachelor lifestyle – the endless string of one night stands with any man or woman who would look in his direction; the pristine penthouse apartment with all of its sharp-edged furniture that he’d never considered a danger beforehand; all of the time in the world to dedicate to his flourishing career and his work-hard-play-harder attitude.

His empty, soulless existence; suddenly abandoned in exchange for the deepest kind of love he could have ever imagined.

And he did love her, immediately and without reservation; despite how much he loathed deleting his Tinder profile as soon as he realised how much it conflicted with juggling his now-waning career alongside single parenthood.

“Santa’s grotto!” she called out as she spotted it through the crowds of people.

Robert looked up and saw the red and white of the grotto building, roof top and the floor beneath it covered in two inch thick piles of the cheapest attempt at manufactured snow, fairy lights draped around the grotto and only reaching two thirds of the way around.

“Please, Daddy, please!” she begged as she looked back up at her father – face alive with excitement and the magic of Christmas – and even as Robert glanced up and winced at the length of the queue, he couldn’t find it in himself to turn her down.

“You sure you want it enough to wait in that queue for hours?” he asked her, in the hope she might change her mind and save him from the agony of a Santa’s grotto on a Sunday afternoon, the week before Christmas. “We’ll miss the showing of Paddington 2.”

“Paddington can wait,” she beamed back at him, eyes wide with excitement as she realised she could definitely talk her dad into a visit to the grotto _and_ a cinema trip in one day. “Santa’s more important!”

Robert rolled his eyes affectionately as she turned back towards the grotto, dragging his hand as they travelled down the length of the hellishly long queue until they could join it at the back.

Robert smiled down at his daughter as he tried to hide the dread creeping into his expression, consoling himself with the thought that at least they might get a decent photo out of it, if nothing else.

 

::

 

One hour and forty five minutes.

One whole hour, and another forty five whole minutes.

They were finally at the front of the queue, and Robert felt every single second of it.

He was weary by the time they made it to the front; hardly caring about the process at all as one of the elves glanced in his direction and offered him a double take before the smile spread across her features.

“And who do we have here, then?” the elf asked his daughter in the faux-excited tone with the more than noticeable undercurrent of weariness at having had various repeats of the same conversation all day.

“Phoebe,” she answered proudly, smile stretched across her face, not feeling an inch of the weariness that Robert felt running through him after their wait.

“What a beautiful name,” the elf replied.

Robert paid at the kiosk and couldn’t help but notice the way the elf was looking at him with more than a hint of suggestion in her eye, aware that he was about to get chatted up if he didn’t move quickly. He refused to entertain the thought of picking up someone dressed as an elf as he dismissed her advances and kept his focus on the door to the grotto, waiting to be the next in line to meet Santa. He hardly thought it was the appropriate place to be picking up a bit of Christmas comfort, anyway, and he took the tiniest slip of pleasure in ignoring the elf as he turned his back to her and made his way into the grotto.

He watched as Phoebe ran up to the man in the red suit, jumping up and enveloping him in a tight hug as Robert cringed at the sound of the half-hearted _ho, ho, ho_ that escaped him in a northern accent.

 _He’s not really putting much effort into this_ , Robert thought to himself.

He shuffled forwards, letting his daughter take the lead as she sat up on the man’s knee, seeming convinced enough of his authenticity despite the clearly padded costume and the elasticated string of his fake beard on quite clear display, if Phoebe had looked for long enough.

“And what do you want for Christmas, then?” Santa asked her, attempting to sound interested despite Robert being able to hear how little he actually cared.

She started to rattle off her list of various toys that Robert half recognised from the list she’d made out of the Argos catalogue, and Robert noted for a second how young this Santa seemed; taking note of his gruff Lancashire accent and realising how out of place it seemed in the context.

He was caught in his thoughts as he spotted Santa looking over to him for a half a second, eyes shifting back to his daughter after realising he’d been caught, but it was long enough for him to have caught the blue of his eyes; that sharpness that caught Robert’s breath in his chest for a second as he forgot to breathe.

He felt the hairs on his forearms stand on end inexplicably; felt strangely drawn to the man dressed in the ridiculous red suit in the seat in front of him as he lingered awkwardly in the doorway of the room. He willed him to look back up in his direction again, but he still seemed vaguely interested in trying to play his role for Phoebe’s sake.

“Come on Dad, shuffle in for the photo,” an elf to his left directed him, catching his attention for half a second before he glanced back to his daughter, her expression full of excitement as the fairy lights from the grotto seemed to twinkle in her eye.

Only, it wasn’t his daughter who was drawing his attention; instead it was those blue eyes beneath the ridiculous red and white fur-trimmed hat; the blue eyes that seemed to fix on his own as he moved towards them, crouching down at his daughters side as they posed awkwardly for a photo.

“Say Christmas!” the elves insisted cheerily as Robert rolled his eyes.

They repeated the words back in unison – Robert, Phoebe and the man-dressed-as-Santa – and held their forced smiles in place until the camera flashed; Robert aware from the tone of the man sat beside him that maybe dressing up as Santa Claus in the middle of Leeds shopping centre wasn’t exactly his idea of a satisfying job.

Robert felt a smile pulling at the corners of his lips, wondering if they’d managed to locate possibly the world’s grumpiest Santa Claus.

“Okay, your photo is waiting for you outside,” the elves smiled as they tried to usher Robert and his daughter towards the door. “Say bye to Santa!”

Phoebe jumped off Santa’s knee, offering him a winning smile as she waved him goodbye.

“Be good and you might get everything you wish for,” Santa called after them. “Ho, ho, ho.”

Robert laughed out loud, unable to stop himself at the sound of the least invested _ho, ho, ho_ he’d ever heard.

“Convincing,” he whispered sarcastically, smirking in Santa’s direction as soon as his daughter was out of earshot, already making her way towards the photograph stand.

Santa looked back at him with a steely expression – the kind that confirmed he’d rather be anywhere but sat in this grotto right now – and Robert half wondered whether his attempt at flirting was going to earn him a punch in the face for a short moment, until he noticed the man’s expression soften slightly, Robert having to imagine the smile he was sure was hiding underneath the cheap fake beard.

Robert felt a heat rise through him as he made his way towards the exit of the grotto, eyes still caught up in those of the man sat before him; Robert wondering if he’d ever seen eyes so piercing before as he found himself ushered outside by one of the elves, Santa breaking his gaze away as a new family burst through the entrance of the grotto.

“Daddy, look!” Phoebe beamed as she held the photo up to her father.

Robert looked down at it – him crouched down at his daughter’s side as she sat up on Santa’s knee; the background all of a sudden superimposed with a backdrop of thick snow atop tall trees, and the three of them finding themselves inside a sleigh, reindeer pulling them along through the forest.

He couldn’t shift his focus away from the man in the picture with them; couldn’t stop the unfamiliar pull in his stomach as he stared into the man’s eyes; the only part of him he could see that wasn’t hidden beneath fake beards or a fur-trimmed red suit.

Robert realised he might enjoy being able to look at this photo up on his fridge every morning.

Maybe that wait had been worth it, after all.

 

 

**_Monday 19 th December_ **

Robert watched the work piling up on his desk all morning, his thoughts distracted and incapable of focus as he tried to whittle down his to-do list unsuccessfully.

He made it through to lunch time and felt the walls closing in around him, the need to escape for his lunch hour taking over him as he leapt up from his desk at 12.01 and grabbed the coat off the back of his chair.

He headed into town for some lunch, grabbing himself something from the bland Starbucks sandwich selection and an Americano to go, before making his way to the back of the shopping centre and to one of his regular lunch-time vantage points; a bench close enough to town for him to be able to watch the world go by as he passed judgment over it, and far enough away that he could get away with doing so without anybody disturbing him.

He’d been amusing himself there for almost half an hour as he finished off his lunch, and was just about to make his way back to the office when the sound of a door banging to his left caught his attention, the sound of laughter travelling in his direction.

It took him less than half a second to realise one of the voices belonged to the man he’d now got stuck to his fridge – at his daughter’s insistence – and that the friend he was with was clearly finding it quite hilarious to see him dressed in the same red suit he’d been wearing in the grotto the day before.

Robert watched on from a distance as the two of them sat down on one of the benches outside of the door they’d emerged from, realising it was the staff entrance to the shopping centre and that Santa must have been entitled to a lunch break, at least.

He felt his heart skip a beat, and he tried to remain inconspicuous by pulling out his phone and pretending to scroll through it as he strained to listen in to their conversation, but he could hear nothing save from the odd booming laugh from Santa’s friend and some half-hearted apology for something Robert couldn’t catch.

He chanced a glance up after a while, breath catching in his throat as he noticed Santa had taken off his hat and beard to eat his lunch, and Robert felt his jaw clench at the sight of him, all dark features and trimmed beard, soft curls styled minimally and resting casually in place, the merest hint of a smile gracing his face as his friend seemed to entertain him as they ate.

Robert lost concentration for a moment, lost in the sight of the man he didn’t want to admit he’d fallen asleep thinking of the previous night, and he wasn’t aware of his phone slipping from his hand until he heard the crack of it against the pavement at his feet, snapping his attention towards it as he cursed and quickly picked it up to check for damage.

He was aware of the laughter stopping at the sound of the impact, and he looked over only to find Santa and his helper staring over in his direction, curious expression on their faces as Robert held Santa’s gaze for a heavy moment.

Santa seemed to offer him the smallest hint of a smile – or was Robert imagining that? – and it made a flush run up through his cheeks as he scrubbed the dirt from his still-intact phone against his thigh, glancing back up to give himself confirmation of the expression on the younger man’s face.

He felt flustered all of a sudden, and it unnerved him – he’d never been one to get intimidated in the face of someone with an interest in him, but something about this ridiculous situation with a man in festive fancy dress seemed to tilt him on his axis, and he felt the need to scarper, the pressure of being under his gaze making him feel self-conscious for some reason, and he quickly gathered up his rubbish and made his way back to his office.

He resisted the urge to look back at the man as he walked away from him, but if he had, he would have found those blue eyes watching every second of him walking away.

 

 

 

**_Tuesday 20 th December_ **

One thing about Christmas that Robert hated – one of many things, granted – was the queues.

Everywhere, the queues were double – triple – what they usually would be.

He’d only wanted to nip out quickly to pick up a meal deal from Boot’s – work piling up on his desk and a presentation with an important client in the afternoon keeping him from taking any sort of an actual lunch hour – and he’d tried weaving past the dawdling shoppers to get as far in front of the queue as he could do, but he still found himself held up at the tills for longer than he could afford to be out of the office.

He was letting out his third exaggerated sigh, intended to be heard and appreciated by the slow moving and seemingly inept shoppers in the queue in front of him as they struggled to understand how to work the incredibly simple self-checkout, when he caught sight of two elves in the queue in the corner of his eye, recognising their costume from the grotto.

They were talking animatedly, and loud enough for everyone to hear without caring much for the fact, and Robert found himself listening in as he heard them mention the guy dressed as Santa.

“Can you believe how fit he is?” the blonde elf exclaimed, met with a knowing smile and some hand waving from the brunette elf stood beside her.

“So fit!” she confirmed. “First time I saw him out of the Santa costume I swear I was drooling,” she laughed, her friend joining in with animated agreement.

Robert’s thoughts flashed back to the previous day, when he’d seen the same man he was sure they were discussing out the back of the shopping centre, minus his hat and beard and looking good enough to have occupied Robert’s thoughts for the rest of the day, despite still wearing the rest of his Santa suit.

He could only imagine how good he’d look out of it.

“Is he single?” one of the elves asked to the other, and Robert found himself unwittingly look up in their direction.

“Aaron? Yeah, but he’s also gay,” the other elf replied with a hint of disappointment.

Robert felt his chest constrict with something resembling anticipation; excitement.

_Aaron._

He bit his lip and tried to hide the smile that threatened to creep over his face; the smile that remained there for the rest of the day as he let his thoughts get carried away with themselves.

He tried his name out on his lips later in the day, as he was sat back in his office and avoiding the paperwork he had piled up.

“Aaron,” he purred out to himself, rolling the ‘r’ as he smirked, imagining how it would sound rolling off his tongue as his own name rolled off Aaron’s in return.

 

 

 

 

**_Wednesday 21 st December_ **

“Why are you smiling so much, Daddy?”

Robert clenched down on his jaw, trying to bite his gums to stop his smile from spreading even wider and threatening to give him away.

“Didn’t realise I was, princess,” Robert replied to his daughter as he poured the warm milk onto her Ready Brek, stirring it with her favourite Elsa spoon before checking the temperature and presenting it to her on the breakfast table.

He was aware of her watching him intently, a curious expression on her face.

“You did,” she replied back at him, eyes narrowed as she watched him sit opposite her, and try to avoid her gaze as he picked up his phone and scrolled through his emails.

“When did you get so smart, eh?” he smiled up at her as he ignored her question, sure there was only one reason why his smile was stretching from ear to ear that morning. “Eat your breakfast,” he commanded, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He had a plan to make his way back to the grotto, and there was only one thing he was going to ask Santa for this year.

 

::

 

Robert checked his watch and sighed as he felt the tension in his shoulders building.

It was mid-afternoon, and he hadn’t had the chance to breathe all morning after one of his colleagues had called in sick and he’d had their client file dumped on his desk first thing, told he had to prepare to deliver the presentation that afternoon  in the meeting that said colleague was presumably avoiding.

He knew the name of the client – had heard it whispered around the office with more than an undercurrent of dread running through it – and he knew he had to put the hours in throughout the day to make sure he didn’t get slaughtered in the presentation.

He wouldn’t mind it usually – would thrive off being given the opportunity to prove himself; the chance to get on the good side of a renowned difficult client – but the realisation that it would keep him in the office all day and with no time to nip out to town and attempt to chance a meeting with the blue eyed man in the grotto filled him with a sense of disappointment that he couldn’t shift all day.

Even later in the day, after his meeting had gone spectacularly well and Robert had managed to secure an extension to the contractual agreement with the client, Robert couldn’t find it in himself to want to go out celebrating with his workmates, making an excuse to allow him to leave the office as soon as possible after the meeting.

It was gone 6pm when he finally managed to walk out of the door, and he hesitated before deciding to walk the long way home, aware that the grotto would probably be closed up for the day, but that there was a hint of a chance that the staff could still be finishing up; that he might bump into Aaron.

If that was even his name; if Robert wasn’t assuming the elves in the Boot’s queue had been talking about the same Santa he’d developed quite a crush on.

He felt his shoulders fall somewhat upon passing by the grotto and finding it all boarded up, with the sign saying that it closed at 5pm, meaning everyone would be long gone.

“Tomorrow,” Robert muttered to himself as he burrowed his face deeper into his scarf, attempting to warm his face for the rest of the walk home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**_Thursday 22 nd December_ **

He’d barely slept with the anticipation of it, and had hardly been able to concentrate on any kind of work that morning as his mind ran over the possible outcomes of the conversation he anticipated having with the man who’d been on his mind for the best part of a week.

Robert finally finished off the task he’d been set for the morning, picking up his coat and making his way out of his office, a thrill of nervous excitement running through him.

“Man on a mission,” his assistant called out to him with a cheeky smirk as he breezed past her on his way out. “What’s got you all worked up?” she asked.

Robert offered her nothing more than a frown in response as he walked out of the office building and headed towards the grotto.

He noticed the queue a lot shorter than it had been on Sunday – rolling his eyes at the fortune of those who had more than just their weekends to be able to waste on such activities – and noticed the sign up saying that Santa would be out for lunch from 1pm.

He checked his watch and realised that gave him time to pick up a sandwich and make his way to the bench around the back of the shopping centre where he’d seen Aaron and his mate on their lunch break the other day.

He thought about picking up a sandwich for Aaron, before stopping himself and realising that might have been coming on a little too strong. He picked up a cheese and onion for himself, before changing his mind and replacing it with a ham and cheese, attempting to convince himself it had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to avoid onion breath if he was going to be in with a chance of a first kiss with handsome Santa.

He stopped outside Starbucks, running in at the last minute and on seeing only a minimal queue, and placing his usual order before deliberating what coffee a gruff Mancunian with seasonal employment might drink, opting for a double shot Americano and smirking to himself as he gave them the name Santa and they wrote it in black marker on the side of the cup, realising he’d found his conversation starter.

He made his way to the bench, sitting down to eat his lunch as he checked his watch, smirking at his perfect timing.

As if summoned by him, the door to his left swung open, and Robert noticed the red of the Santa suit in his peripheral vision, attempting to remain casual as he avoided staring him out, and trying to hide the smile that threatened to spread over his face.

He threw his rubbish in the bin beside him, and picked up the two coffee cups before walking towards the other bench, ready to make his move.

He was just three feet away and beyond the point when he could claim to be doing anything other than approaching the man in the Santa suit specifically, when said man pulled off his hat and beard to reveal a different face to the one Robert had been expecting.

It wasn’t Aaron.

It couldn’t have been further away from Aaron, in fact – looking almost thirty years his senior and with the leathery complexion to prove it; the blue eyes Robert had expected to stare into longingly instead replaced by red-rimmed grey eyes and crow’s feet, now looking back up at Robert with a mixture of disdain and confusion.

“Can I help you?” he asked Robert, somewhat aggressively.

Robert was caught unawares for a second, blindsided by the fact that he’d let himself spend all day in anticipation of making his move on Aaron; that he was stood in front of this stranger now with two coffee cups and no explanation for his unwanted presence.

“Erm, no,” Robert stuttered, taking a breath as he collected himself. “No, sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

The man offered him an unimpressed scowl and returned to his bacon butty, Robert grimacing as he watched a blob of ketchup drop onto the Santa suit.

He turned and walked away, throwing the coffee in the bin dramatically as he passed by.

Maybe it wasn’t meant to be, after all.

 

 

 

 

**_Friday 23 rd December_ **

By the time the end of the end of the week came around, Robert had resigned himself to another Christmas without anyone to kiss under the mistletoe. He was going to focus on having the best Christmas with his daughter, letting his mind wander to the thought of the look on her face as she opened up her presents, feeling the smile creep over his face.

He set up his out of office on his work emails, and joined in with the festive cheer as he followed his colleagues out of work and headed for their Christmas party at a bar in town.

He spent the evening plastering a smile on his face, attempting to allow himself to show some interest when a guy attempted to chat him up in the bar, even if he knew his heart wasn’t in it.

He tried to convince himself he wasn’t thinking about Aaron the whole night, watching the door in some misguided hope that maybe he could walk in; maybe the stars could actually align for them. Despite knowing next to nothing about him, Robert had found himself incapable of diverting his mind away from thoughts of him since he’d locked eyes with him the previous Sunday, and he struggled to get himself to move past the thought that they’d shared something in those precious few seconds they’d been in the same room as each other.

“Sorry, am I boring you?” asked the man who’d been trying to chat him up all evening.

The question pulled Robert from his thoughts, not having realised until then how he’d drifted off to thinking about Aaron again. He apologised, before making his excuses and returning to his colleagues, realising his heart wasn’t in it, even with the knowledge that he had a rare empty house as Phoebe was staying over at Vic’s.

He told himself he needed to shake out of it, hadn’t known himself get so caught up on anyone in that way before, let along someone he’d barely shared a conversation with.

He went through the motions for the evening, enjoying the company of his co-workers for once and the unlimited free booze from his boss even more so. He joined in the conversations, supplying his own self-indulgent humour wherever possible, and commented on the sub-standard food as per usual.

He found himself wine drunk and drowsy by the end of the evening, deciding to call it a night before the suggestions of moving onto a club did the rounds; reluctant to be coerced into living his worst nightmare and finding himself ending up in some sweaty room where his shoes stuck to the floor with alcohol and everyone in there was either wrapped up in tinsel and sequins or wearing Christmas jumpers despite the heat in the room.

He made his excuses to leave, his assistant deciding to call it a night at the same time as he offered to walk her back to the apartment she shared with her husband on the high street; stumbling through the bar together before Robert agreed to wait outside for her as she nipped to the toilets.

He was just zipping up his coat and burying his face into his scarf as he heard voices coming down the street, heading towards the bar he was stood outside of. It took him all of half a second to realise he recognised the accent and before the two figures had even come into the light from the streetlamp above them, Robert knew one of them was Aaron.

He let his eyes linger down his body shamelessly, the wine in his system making him lose all sense of decency as he quite obviously checked him out. He’d imagined what he’d look like without that ridiculous Santa suit, but even in his imagination he hadn’t looked as good as he did walking towards him, hands in the pockets of his black jeans, fitted dark grey jumper stretching deliciously over the defined muscles of his chest and biceps, the cold weather and his lack of any kind of suitable warm clothing making his nipples stand on end through the thin jumper.

Robert couldn’t tear his eyes away; even when he realised Aaron had stopped still, right in front of him.

He trailed his eyes back up to meet Aaron’s, caught again in transfixion at their colour, aware of the hint of amusement in Aaron’s eyes as they looked back at him.

“Hi,” Robert let out, hint of hesitation in his tone as he smiled genuinely.

“Hi,” Aaron smiled back, hint of mischief in there as if he knew precisely what was happening between them; as if maybe he’d spent the week thinking about exactly what Robert had, too.

“You’re in the way of the door, mate,” Aaron’s friend announced, breaking their attention away from each other as Robert glanced back and realised he was blocking their path into the bar.

“Oh, sorry,” Robert laughed as he moved to one side to let them past.

Aaron moved to follow his mate into the bar, before he seemed to hesitate and double back on himself, returning his attention back to Robert.

“Weren’t you – ”

“Come on, loverboy,” Robert’s assistant exclaimed as she barrelled out of the bar, giggling as she linked her arm through Robert’s, oblivious to the way she’d interrupted Aaron. “You’re taking me home!” she exclaimed excitedly.

Robert cringed, realising that her use of his office nickname wasn’t exactly going to make a great impression with Aaron, especially with her additional insinuation that they were going home together.

He’d picked up the nickname of ‘loverboy’ back in the days when he used to go home with a different guy or girl every night of the week, and it had stuck even after Phoebe’s sudden appearance in his life made it more of a way for him to be reminded of a past life than anything more.

He’d never liked it, but right in that moment he hated it more than ever.

He glanced up at Aaron, ready to explain to him that he was being chivalrous and walking her back to her husband, and that he was nowhere near to being her lover, but he noticed the way the glint in Aaron’s eye had disappeared, as if some of the hope he’d been harbouring had been lost in that second.

“Have fun,” Aaron uttered with a flick of his eyebrows and no hint of amusement in his eye, before he pulled open the door to the bar and made his way inside to join his mate.

Robert watched him disappear inside the bar, and his hopes alongside him, before he was being tugged down the street and away from his lost chances.

 

 

 

 

 

**_Saturday 24 th December_ **

He woke up on Saturday with a raging headache, the light seeping through his still-open curtains and the fact he was still in last night’s clothes a sure sign that he’d fallen into bed and succumbed to an alcohol-induced coma before being able to sort himself out.

He looked to his bedside table in the hope that he’d at least poured himself a glass of water before falling asleep, but he groaned as he realised drunk Robert wasn’t quite as worried about his future morning self, and he was left with the dilemma of trying to ignore his dry mouth or having to face actually moving and leaving his bed to get some hydration from his kitchen.

He tried to will himself back to sleep for a few minutes, until he heard the unmistakeable sound of his sister knocking at his door.

He checked his phone, surprised to see that he’d slept until nearly 11, and begrudgingly removed himself from his bed to open the door to his sister and daughter.

“Oh, oh dear,” Vic laughed with an amused expression on her face as he swung open his front door and let her in.

“Daddy!” Phoebe exclaimed as she ran inside and Robert lifted her up into his arms, wincing through the exertion of lifting a five year old whilst also carrying the world’s worst hangover.

“Looks like Daddy enjoyed his Christmas party a little too much, Phoebs!” Vic joked.

Robert grunted in return before slumping down on his sofa, allowing it to take the weight of himself and Phoebe as she continued to cling onto him.

“Like you’ve never had a hangover,” Robert muttered.

Vic rolled her eyes, bringing him through a glass of water from the kitchen as if she knew on instinct that he was desperate for it.

“You’ll be wanting one of your sister’s famous fry ups, then?” she smiled at him, passing him the TV remote as he settled down onto the sofa, Phoebe playing on the floor in front of him.

Robert looked at her like she’d just promised him the world.

“If you insist,” Robert grinned back at her.

She smirked at him in return, before leaving him to watch trash TV as she got cooking.

 

::

 

It was two hours before Vic gave up attempting to persuade Robert to get showered and leave the house, deciding instead to take Phoebe off his hands for the afternoon as he struggled to entertain her, despite the two Anadin he’d already taken that morning.

“Right, because I’m the best sister in the world, how about I take Phoebe out and let you nurse your hangover in peace?”

Robert turned to face her, gratitude clear in his expression.

“You don’t have to do that, Vic,” he answered, despite his desperation to take her up on her offer. “You had her last night, you – ”

“I’ll spend as much time with my niece as I like, thank you very much!” she interrupted insistently.

“You’re a godsend, you know that,” Robert thanked her genuinely.

He watched her milling around and packing Phoebe’s things together for the day, and waved them goodbye as they left a little while later, Robert thankful for some peace and quiet to let himself sleep off his headache.

He tried to settle into the sofa, but it wasn’t long before his mind starting wandering back the night before, the beer fear creeping in as he recounted the conversations with his co-workers from the night before, and then his brief encounter with Aaron.   He tried to push it to the back of his mind, but he couldn’t help the sinking feeling at the realisation that he’d blown any chance with him; that even if he was lucky enough to bump into him again, he’d been left with the worst impression of Robert from the night before.

One that wouldn’t have been too far from the mark a few years ago; but one that was nowhere close to who he was now.

He tried to focus on the cookery programme on the TV, and then on the washing up from Vic’s breakfast, and then on hauling himself into the shower and getting himself dressed; but none of it allowed him to keep Aaron from his mind for long.

He made himself a coffee and had a quick flick through his phone, rolling his eyes as he noted he’d been checked in to the bar by one of his colleagues the night before, and he’d been tagged in a few posts on Instagram. He checked them over quickly, noting he at least looked pretty good in all of them – that they must have been taken before he’d got too drunk – and was just about to abandon his social media when he spotted that Vic had uploaded a pic of her and Phoebe out in town.

 ** _vicbarton1994_** Looking after this beaut for the day, Santa’s grotto it is! #lovechristmas #auntyvic

He read over the caption again, and looked at the picture to realise it was clearly taken from the queue he’d spend most of his Sunday stood in the week before, to be rewarded with the sight of Aaron in the grotto at the end of it.

He noticed she’d posted it only ten minutes before, and he jumped up off the sofa with more energy than he thought he’d be capable of.

He was out of the door within five minutes, parked up ten minutes later, and charging through the crowds as quickly as he could until he found himself next to the queue for the grotto.

He’d purposely done all his Christmas shopping online at the beginning of the month to avoid having to be anywhere near the city centre on Christmas Eve, and yet he found himself here with the sole intention of finding something more than just a Christmas present.

He spotted Vic and Phoebe at the front of the grotto queue and he raced towards them, shouting out to get Vic’s attention just before they made their way inside.

“What are you doing out of the house?!” she looked at him with a mixture of shock and confusion as he clambered under the railings and joined them in the queue.

Robert realised he didn’t have an excuse – and he hardly wanted to admit that he’d fallen for the guy who might be dressed as Santa on the other side of the door in front of them and that he’d jumped at the chance of bumping into him again – so he shrugged and told her he saw her Instagram and wanted to join in the fun.

Vic looked just as baffled, but she let it slide as they were ushered through into the grotto, Robert seeming eager to get inside.

He felt his chest constrict as he clocked the unmistakeable blue eyes looking back at him; enjoyed the double take as Aaron recognised him and the way he couldn’t tear his eyes away for a few seconds as they held each other’s gaze.

“Ho, ho, ho,” Aaron muttered, eyes flicking to the ground as if he felt slightly embarrassed at finding himself dressed so ridiculously in Robert’s presence.

Robert found it oddly endearing, letting Aaron catch the smile play out over his lips.

Phoebe had already run up into Santa’s lap, oblivious to the charge between the man in the red suit and her father stood by the door to the grotto.

Vic wasn’t though, noticing the way they looked at one another with a degree of recognition.

Aaron glanced between Robert and Vic and his eyes flickered for a second – clearly making assumptions about Vic’s presence in Robert’s life – before he managed to remember the role he had to play and returned his attention to the five year old sat on his knee.

“Hello again,” Aaron welcomed Phoebe, who beamed with excitement that Santa had appeared to remember her.

“Santa remembered me!” she exclaimed, looking up at her father with excitement.

He smiled back; could hardly break her excitement by telling her that it might be him that Santa remembered more than her.

The realisation of it filled his chest with happiness, though.

“Santa remembers all of the children who’ve been good this year,” Aaron told her with his best attempt at Santa’s accent. “What’s your wish this Christmas then?” he continued.

Phoebe bit down on her bottom lip as she thought about answering his question, unaware of the charged tension in the room as Robert willed Aaron to look his way, and Vic caught the growing realisation about why exactly Robert had hot-footed into out to join them in the grotto.

“I told you what I want for Christmas last time,” Phoebe announced, breaking through the tension in the room. “There’s one more thing I forgot to ask for.”

Aaron nodded, keeping his attention held on her as he avoided Robert’s gaze, memories of night before stinging him; when he’d thought for a second about asking Robert for a drink, and instead he’d had the idea thrown back in his face with the appearance of whoever the woman was that Robert appeared to be taking home with him.

“What’s that?” Aaron asked, patience wearing thin with his job now, wondering what banal toys she could want to add to her list.

“I want my daddy to be happy,” she almost-whispered, as if she didn’t want Robert to hear her, glancing back at her dad to check afterwards.

He did, and it caught him off guard, and he shuffled on his feet nervously as he felt Aaron’s gaze upon him then, assessing him with a frown on his face.

“I want daddy to fall in love with someone to make him smile again,” Phoebe continued with that childlike unawareness of the awkwardness in the room.

Aaron glanced over at Vic, confusion clear in his face as Phoebe’s words seemed to conflict with his assumption that Vic was a wife or girlfriend.

Vic read the situation instantly, and gasped as she made the connection.

“Oh! Sister!” Vic clarified, as if she couldn’t get the words out quickly enough, pointing to herself to avoid any further confusion. “Definitely his sister,” she added as she pointed at Robert, grimace covering her face. “Definitely just Phoebe’s aunt. He’s definitely single,” she added needlessly.

“Vic – ”

“And definitely bisexual, too, by the way,” she interrupted, wide eye and mischievous.

“Vic!” he lamented her, feeling the slight blush creep over his cheeks as he felt the desire for the ground to open up and swallow him.

That was until he looked at Aaron and saw the way his eyes had widened with amusement; could tell he was smiling, even if he couldn’t see it beneath the beard, again.

“Well, maybe your dad will meet someone, if you wish for it hard enough,” Aaron reassured Phoebe, glancing up at Robert. “Maybe he met someone last night,” he muttered as he raised an eyebrow, hint of challenge in his tone, without a care for the appropriateness of their setting.

Phoebe looked over at Robert in confusion, and he noticed Vic’s glare from the other side of the grotto too.

“Oh, um, no,” Robert dismissed their mixed reactions with a shake of his head. “Daddy definitely didn’t meet anyone last night, sweetheart,” he felt his heart pull at the disappointment on his daughter’s face. “Daddy walked his tipsy assistant home, to her husband, to make sure she got back safely, that’s all.”

He watched Aaron’s expression change; saw a hint of softness in there again as the elf in the room urged them to gather together for their photograph.

Robert crouched down at Aaron’s side, and Robert felt a strong palm across his back as the posed for the photo, a tingling feeling rushing through him with the feel of Aaron’s hands on him.

He glanced up and caught his eye, unable to stop the smile spreading wide across his face when Aaron winked at him suggestively, before the flash of the camera shocked them back into the present.

“Okay, great,” the elf started to try to usher the three of them out of the grotto. “If you can make your way outside your photo will be ready for you.”

Vic picked up Phoebe and Robert moved to follow them as they made their way out of the grotto, reluctant to leave but aware of the elf trying to push them through, until Robert felt Aaron grab at his wrist, pulling him back.

“Meet me out back in an hour,” he whispered.

Robert didn’t have time to respond as the front door of the grotto opened again for the next family to come through, and Aaron’s attention was taken away from him once more.

He smiled as he left through the exit door, his hand instinctively touching the place Aaron’s hand had been seconds earlier as he walked over to meet Vic and Phoebe.

“Interesting photo,” Vic remarked with raised eyebrows and a glint in her eye, handing the picture over to Robert.

He looked down at the image – himself and Aaron locked eyes with one another, and a look in his own eye that he hardly thought he recognised – and he felt a rush of excitement course through him at the sight of it.

“You can tell me all about it over a coffee,” Vic insisted with a smirk as she took Phoebe’s hand and directed her towards the nearest Starbucks.

Robert took another look at the photo in his hands, taking in a deep breath as if he was trying to chase it, and he slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

He checked his watch, figured he wasn’t going to get out of explaining everything to Vic, but aware that he had somewhere to be in an hour’s time.

 

 

::

 

 

He was waiting on his bench forty five minutes later, anticipation having gotten the better of him, and his sister being more than insistent that he make it to meet Aaron in good time. He checked his watch, jigging his leg up and down as he tried to distract himself and will the time to go quicker by scrolling through his phone.

He took the picture out from his jacket pocket a few times, smiling each time he took a glance at it.

It was precisely 3pm when he heard the door at the staff entrance bang open, and he looked up to see Aaron emerge out of it, minus the Santa suit, looking every bit as good as he had done the night before. Robert’s mouth watered at the sight of him, and he forgot to breathe for a second as he watched Aaron’s gaze land on him, and nod to the left.

Robert hopped up and followed Aaron as he headed around the side of the building and down a side alley, smirking to himself in anticipation.

“Ah no, you took the suit off,” Robert teased with a smirk as they rounded the corner and found themselves hidden away in the side alley, Aaron rolling his eyes playfully in response. “Does that mean you’re done for the day?” he added hopefully.

“No, just a ten minute break,” Aaron replied as he stopped in the middle of the alley and turned to face Robert, backing him up against the brick wall behind him. “I just thought you’d feel a bit weird doing this if I was still wearing it.”

Robert didn’t have the chance to answer, he felt the heat of Aaron’s body up against him for a split second before he felt the electricity of Aaron’s lips pressing against his own, and his breath hitched in his throat as his heart hammered in his chest.

He let out an involuntary groan as he pushed back into the kiss, bringing his hands up to frame Aaron’s jawline as he felt Aaron’s hands drag up along his waist, hips pushing against his own and trapping his body against the prickle of the brick wall behind him.

He tilted his head and ran his tongue against Aaron’s bottom lip; Aaron groaning and opening up, letting Robert’s tongue inside and pushing back with his own, tasting of coffee and caramel and all of Robert’s dreams rolled into one.

Robert felt Aaron’s hands travel down his sides until he was reaching behind and grabbing Robert’s arse, pulling him closer, nestling a thigh between Robert’s legs until he could feel the way the blond was hard for him already. He pulled his hand between them, rubbing at the outline of Robert’s dick through the denim of his jeans, and Robert jerked backwards with the sensation of it, mouth going slack as the sensation of Aaron’s hands on him overwhelmed him.

He opened his eyes, saw Aaron smiling as he looked back at him, tongue running a suggestive line across his upper lip as he watched Robert fall apart under his touch.

He glanced down the alleyway – buildings high either side of them and far enough around the corner to be well out of sight of anybody – and he pulled at Robert’s belt buckle, the blond keening into him as he felt his legs go weak beneath him, and he deftly worked at his button and zip until he had his hands right where Robert wanted them; until Robert was slamming his head back against the wall behind him and grabbing onto either side of Aaron’s neck to steady himself.

He felt the muscles of Aaron’s back working as his hand stripped him up and down, working him just the way he needed it; everything that he’d imagined Aaron would feel like and more.

He opened his eyes, pulling his head forwards to look Aaron in the eye, smiling as he caught his gaze and kissing him lazily, body spent and overwhelmed from the feel of Aaron’s touch against him; right where he needed him.

He pulled back from the kiss, leaning his forehead against Aaron’s for support, glancing up and holding his gaze as he continued to fall apart at the sensation of Aaron’s hands working at him expertly, flicking a thumb over the head of his leaking dick as he pushed from fast to slow; fast to slow; fast to slow in his movements.

“You feel so good,” Robert whispered helplessly into space between them.

He noticed Aaron’s smile, felt his breath on his lips as he let out a little laugh in response.

“I’ve been thinking about doing this since I saw you last week,” Aaron admitted, voice staggered with the movement of his hand as Robert’s hips rolled forwards with his movements.

“Oh god,” Robert moaned, letting what Aaron said sink in; allowing himself to believe that maybe Aaron had felt it too. “Same here,” was all he could manage, his hips bucking as Aaron’s hands took him apart.

“Tell me when – ”

“I’m close,” Robert let out, could feel that feeling rising up within him, and with just a few more –

Aaron’s hands stilled for a second, and Robert all but begged for him to carry on again, until he watched Aaron kneeling down in front of him – eyes never leaving his own as he watched on mesmerised and in awe of this guy – and Aaron had barely wrapped his lips around the head of Robert’s dick before he was curling his hands into fists and punching at the wall behind him, spilling into the heat of Aaron’s mouth as he looked up at him through his lashes; those blue eyes that had barely left his thoughts for the past week.

“Fuck,” Robert whispered out as he tried to recover himself; as he watched the obscenity of Aaron pulling his mouth from Robert’s dick, knowing glint in his eye as he did it; standing up on his feet as he put Robert back together, zipping up his jeans for him as Robert leant back against the wall; helpless.

“Good?” Aaron asked, knowing the answer regardless, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Fuck, yes,” Robert whispered, bringing his head forwards and mustering the energy to reach out and grab at Aaron’s waist, pulling him back in close to him. “Really fucking good,” he confirmed on a laugh.

Aaron smiled before shuffling forwards and placing a kiss against Robert’s lips, opening up instinctively to let Robert dip his tongue inside, tasting of coffee and caramel and himself on Aaron’s tongue; better than in his wildest dreams.

Robert positively whimpered as Aaron pulled away.

“I’ve got to get back,” he reminded Robert ruefully.

“You’re really gonna leave me here like this, after that?” Robert smirked, his breathing returning to normal as he came down in recovery. “I need a chance to return the favour.”

Aaron smirked back at him.

“Maybe if it’s meant to be we’ll bump into each other again,” he smiled, with no real intention of leaving without a concrete way to get in touch, despite his teasing.

Robert laughed as he reached into his pocket and took out one of his business cards.

“I’m not taking that chance, I’m sorry,” he smirked as he handed over the card.

Aaron took it from him, flipping it over in his hands after reading it.

“Robert Sugden, Sales Manager,” he raised his eyebrows in mock admiration. “They don’t do business cards for Santa Claus, so I’ll have to text you my number,” he joked.

“Make sure you do,” Robert insisted as he adjusted himself in his jeans and followed Aaron as he turned to make his way back out of the alley.

“See you later, then,” he nodded towards Robert as they made their way back out onto the main street. “It’s Aaron, by the way,” he added.

Robert nodded – realised he didn’t need Aaron to know he’d been a little stalker-y and may have already known his name – and he grabbed at Aaron’s hand as he went to walk away.

He pulled him back towards him and pressed a kiss against his lips, feeling Aaron sink into him slightly as they let it linger.

“Text me, Aaron,” Robert insisted as Aaron pulled away from him.

“I’ll think about it, Robert,” Aaron smirked back at him, and then he was turning his back and walking away.

Robert couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.

 

 

::

 

He couldn’t wipe the smile away all evening, actually.

Until about 10pm, at which point he’d filled Phoebe’s Santa sack and placed it at the bottom of the bed; he’d downed Santa’s sherry and taken a bite from the mince pie, and he’d bitten into the carrot to leave some reindeer teeth marks before throwing it out into the garden; and all manner of other things he’d tried to do to keep himself from staring at his phone.

Until about 10pm, when the smile was wiped from his face with the fleeting realisation that maybe Aaron hadn’t been joking, and maybe he had no intention to contact him at all.

Until about 10pm, when he decided to give up for the evening and to head to bed – aware Phoebe would likely wake him up at 4am and he’d need as much sleep as possible – but he found himself tossing and turning in his bed that evening, half with the memory of what Aaron had made him feel in that alleyway earlier in the day, and half through fear that maybe that was all him and Aaron would ever be to one another – a fleeting tryst by the bins behind a department store.

He checked his phone after a while, holding it above his face as he lay in bed, happening to click the screen on as his phone flicked over to midnight.

“Merry Christmas,” he whispered out to himself, emotionless.

His phone vibrated in his hands, and he noticed a text come through from an unknown number. He dropped his phone against his face in the excitement of it, cursing himself as he shuffled up the bed quickly and grabbed at his phone, unlocking it and bringing up the text message.

**_Unknown Number:_ ** _Merry Christmas Robert ;)_

Robert smiled to himself; knew instinctively it was Aaron without needing the confirmation.

_Is that you, Santa?_

He hit reply, smiling to himself like all of his Christmases were coming at once.

**_Unknown Number:_ ** _Yep, or Aaron to my mates :P_

Robert smirked, quickly saving Aaron’s number in his phone and vowing never to lose it.

_Merry Christmas to you too, and thanks for taking a second out of your busy night shift to send me your number ;)_

Robert actually laughed to himself, giddy with the excitement of sitting up in bed and texting Aaron, after he’d been convinced anything between them would be nothing more than a pipe dream.

**_Aaron:_ ** _Very funny! Thank god I won’t have to wear that suit again. Today was well busy._

Robert swallowed down at the thought of Aaron’s body, at how good he looked that first time he’d seen him out of the suit.

_I thought it was quite sexy, I might make you wear it again ;)_

_And you can’t have been too busy if you managed 10 minutes for me ;)_

Robert cringed to himself at losing his cool by sending a double text and a double winking emoji, and his heart beat spiked as he stared at his phone, waiting for Aaron’s reply that he could see he was typing.

**_Aaron:_ ** _Well I kinda got it in the neck for that, actually. Elves were kicking right off._

**_Aaron:_ ** _Hope it was worth it ;)_

_It definitely was._

He replied without hesitation.

_When can I return the favour? I want to see you again._

He stared at his screen, waiting as he noticed that Aaron had seen his message but wasn’t typing out a reply. His heart lodged in his throat as he read his message back, wondering if he’d scared him away; if he’d come on too strong.

He let out the breath he was holding when he saw that he was typing again a moment later.

**_Aaron:_ ** _I’m free 27 th if you wanna head out for a drink?_

Robert could feel his smile stretching wider.

_Sounds good to me._

**_Aaron:_ ** _It’s a date then._

Robert felt as if he was about to burst with anticipation, making a mental note to make sure Vic would have Phoebe for the night, just in case he needed the house to himself.

_Yes it is. I best get to sleep, I’ll probably get woken up at 4am._

**_Aaron:_ ** _Night Robert x_

_Night Aaron x_

And with that on his mind, Robert succumbed to the best four hours sleep than he’d had in a long time.

 

 

 

 

**_Christmas Day_ **

It was 4.30am, in actual fact, when Phoebe ran into Robert’s room in excitement that Santa had been.

He woke up, bleary eyed as he let her drag her Santa sack through into his room and open each of her presents with and increasing degree of excitement, as he regretted allowing himself to stay up so late the night before.

He smiled to himself with the memory of what it was that had kept him up, and he checked the messages in his phone just to make sure he hadn’t dreamt it all.

Vic appeared half way through the morning, hands laden with presents, questioning what had put a smile on his face. He told her about Aaron and their date, and she hugged him with excitement.

They headed out to the park, Phoebe taking her new bike with her as she rattled along with her stabilisers on, squealing if she happened to go above walking pace at any time.

Robert left Phoebe in Vic’s capable hands – complaining about his lack of sleep as he found a resting place on a bench at the edge of the park, and watching on as he saw Vic chasing Phoebe around on her bike.

He became aware of a figure dressed all in black approaching him – a jogger, which made Robert frown for half second because _who exercised on Christmas day?_ – until he came into focus and Robert realised precisely who it was.

Aaron was in a trance, headphones in and focus on the ground before him, but Robert stood up as he got close by to catch his attention, and the smirk covered his face as he slowed down and took out his headphones.

“Merry Christmas, Santa,” Robert smirked, swaying slightly as he stood with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his puffy blue jacket.

“Merry Christmas,” he replied, following Robert’s eyeline over to where Vic and Phoebe were playing. “What time did she wake up, then?”

“4.30.”

“Jeez,” Aaron winced. “Still, you’re looking pretty good if you’re running on four hours sleep.”

Robert couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over his face as he looked down to the ground sheepishly, kicking at the stones on the pathway.

“Sorry, that was really cheesy,” Aaron laughed, rubbing at his forehead as if he felt a little ashamed of his blatant flirting.

“Please, carry on,” Robert smirked. “I could get used to more compliments from you.”

He caught Aaron’s eye, and they smiled knowingly at one another.

Robert’s attention was drawn away by Phoebe on her approach towards them, Vic following closely behind them.

“New bike?” Aaron asked, and Robert nodded with a smile to confirm.

“Santa brought it me,” Phoebe confirmed, managing to bring herself to a stop beside Aaron and her father.

Aaron smiled as he crouched down to her level, amused at the way that Phoebe had no idea that they’d met before; that she’d twice been to see him in the grotto.

“That’s a great bike, I’m jealous I haven’t got a bike like that!” Aaron smiled at her warmly as he admired the pink, Disney-princess emblazoned bike.

Robert smirked behind him.

“Did Santa bring you everything you wanted?” Aaron asked her.

She paused for a second, deep in thought, before looking up to Robert and back at Aaron again.

“Did Santa bring you?” she asked Aaron, as if her answer to his question depended on whether Santa did in fact bring Aaron here or not.

“Erm, maybe,” Aaron replied, looking up at Robert and shrugging his shoulders as if he hadn’t had a clue how to answer the question. “Why do you ask?” he smiled at her, intrigued.

“I asked Santa for lots of presents, and I got lots of presents,” Phoebe started, beaming smile on her face as she continued, “but I asked for him to make daddy happy, too. Did Santa send you to make daddy happy?”

Aaron smirked, glancing over in Robert’s direction, who looked flustered by the way his daughter had just made things a little awkward.

“We’ve only just met, Phoebs,” Robert stuttered, glancing over at Vic as she approached them.

“Daddy looks happier than usual,” Phoebe continued. “I thought maybe Santa had sent you and that’s why he’s happy,” she added, matter-of-factly.

Robert caught sight of Aaron smirking to the side of him, and he let out a little laugh to break the tension.

“How about we go and race again, Phoebe,” Vic intervened, smiling as she looked between the two men and grabbing at the handlebars of Phoebe’s bike to wheel her away. “Come on, I’ll give you a headstart.”

Robert rolled his eyes as they retreated away.

“Sorry about that, she doesn’t really understand,” he grimaced, hoping his daughter hadn’t ruined his chances with the beautiful man stood beside him.

“Don’t worry, she’s cute,” Aaron laughed in reply. “You never know, maybe I was sent by Santa,” he shrugged playfully.

Robert laughed, burrowing his face into his scarf as a frosty wind blew past them.

“Let’s see how the first date goes first, yeah?” he laughed, met with a smile and a nod of agreement from Aaron.

Aaron stayed for a few moments as they watched Phoebe and the other children playing, and they firmed up plans for their date with the promise of drinks and the suggestion of much more at the end of it.

Aaron turned to leave, hesitating as if he wanted something more, and Robert wasn’t sure if it was the festive cheer, or the certainty thrumming through his veins that this electricity between the two of them was going somewhere, but whatever it was gave him the courage to take a hold of Aaron’s forearm and pull him back to him, wrapping his hands around his waist, and kissing him like it was all he had ever done.

He felt the cold of Aaron’s nose against his cheek, but it warmed him through to feel Aaron’s lips against his own once more; to feel the press of lips giving into a smile as they kissed.

“Merry Christmas, Robert,” Aaron smirked as he pulled away from him.

“Merry Christmas, Aaron,” Robert replied, letting his hands slide down from Aaron’s waist as he backed away.

Aaron fired him a wink as he put his headphones back in before doing a slight jog backwards, and then turning to continue his morning run; Robert appreciating the sight of every single inch of Aaron’s retreating form.

 

 

 

::

 

It turned out to be something they did every Christmas, from then on.

Year after year, they’d open presents in their pyjama’s before heading out with Phoebe to the same park to try out whatever they’d spoilt her with that year.

On the third Christmas, Robert found himself down on one knee, Phoebe clapping away at his side, Aaron’s smile broader than Robert might have ever seen it before as he nodded his head without hesitation.

The fourth Christmas onwards it was a different park they’d visit; one nearer to their new house out in the suburbs; one where their new neighbours would join them with their two kids, a year older and a year younger than Phoebe.

The following year and there were dogs in tow – a german shepherd and a cockapoo – complete with doggy-sized Christmas jumpers that Phoebe had saved her pocket money for especially.

Seven years in and there was a pushchair alongside them; Phoebe ecstatic at having a little brother to share her Christmas joy with, even if she was approaching those awkward teenage years which Robert assumed would come with more angst and agony than he was ready for.

And on their twenty-fourth Christmas day walk out in the park, Robert and Aaron walked hand in hand beside Jacob and Phoebe as they watched her kids – their grandkids – playing on the same swings Phoebe had swung on herself all those Christmases before.

She smiled at them, and when they asked what the look in her eye was for, she reminded them of that first Christmas down the park when Aaron had run into them, and how she swore she’d wished Aaron into existence for her dad, by making it her wish to that Santa in the grotto. They both looked to each other and grinned – aware they’d not told her the whole truth of their meeting, partly due to wanting to keep the magic of Christmas alive for her, and partly because she always looked so pleased with herself whenever she told anyone this story about how she’d wished for her Dad’s happiness one Christmas and it had happened the very next day.

“Do you think it’s about time we told her?” Robert whispered to his husband, smirking with the memory of all those years ago, when Christmas had brought them together.

“Nah, she’d be well gutted, Rob,” Aaron smiled back at him. “She’s nearly 30 and she still thinks she magic’d me into existence.”

Robert smiled over at his husband as they sat down on their usual bench, hand in hand, watching their family carrying on the traditions they’d started.

“I really love Christmas,” Robert let out as he tried to drink in the moment.

“’Course you do,” Aaron pulled their interlocked hands up and placed a kiss against Robert’s hand, smiling up at his husband as he did so.

“It’s our time of year, isn’t it?” Robert smiled warmly.

“Well, yeah,” Aaron grimaced playfully. “And you’ve always had a massive thing for Santa, haven’t you?”

He rolled his eyes as his husband laughed beside him.

“You’re an idiot,” Robert lamented him, before pulling him in to place a kiss against his lips.

“An idiot you love though, yeah?” Aaron smirked.

“An idiot I love, yes,” Robert confirmed with a roll of his eyes.

Aaron responded with a smile and another kiss, before they both sat back and watched their grandkids playing with their presents, just as they had done with Phoebe twenty four years before.

And as he sat and watched the world go by, Robert felt the cold speckle of a snowflake drop on his hand, looking up as a flurry started to swirl around the air above him. 

He heard the kids and families in the park running around with excitement as the snow fell around them, coming thick and fast and leaving a blanket of white all around them.

Robert looked over to Aaron – snowflakes resting beautifully against his greying hair, nose red with the cold in the air around them – and he squeezed at his husband’s hand, catching his smile with his own.

There was nothing quite like Christmas to make him thankful for the family he’d been blessed with; and there was nothing quite like Christmas to remind him just how lucky he’d been to find a man he continued to fall more and more in love with, with every day that passed.

There really was nothing quite like Christmas, at all.

It always was the most wonderful time of the year.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought!  
> @wellyfullofale on tumblr


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